Starlink 8-9 (Falcon 9)
3 July 2024
Space Launch Complex 40
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 20 Starlink satellites, including 13 with Direct to Cell capabilities, to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 4:55 a.m. on 3 July 2024. Following stage separation, the first stage landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.

This is the 16th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched SES-22, ispace's HAKUTO-R MISSION 1, Amazonas-6, CRS-27, Bandwagon-1, and 10 Starlink missions.

The Sun just below the horizon illuminates the second stage exhaust plume forming the distinctive "jellyfish" in the latter half of the launch time exposure.
Main Engine Cutoff (MECO) and stage separation.
Upper left - Second stage exhaust plume; upper right - second stage exhaust plume illuminated by the Sun below the horizon; lower left & right - first stage entry burn.
Second stage disappearing behind clouds.
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